This invention relates to a disposable sanitary garment such as a disposable diaper, disposable training pants or a disposable diaper cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,278 discloses a disposable diaper having at least one elastically contractible gasketing cuff and at least one barrier cuff. The gasketing cuff is formed by portions of a liquid-absorbent core sandwiching top- and backsheets laterally extending beyond a side edge of the core and placed upon each other. The gasketing cuff is provided with an elastic member extending longitudinally of the diaper and secured under tension to the gasketing cuff. The barrier cuff is formed by a belt-like sheet bonded along one of its transversely opposite side edge portions to the top surface of the topsheet. The barrier cuff is provided along its other side edge portion with an elastic member extending longitudinally of the diaper and secured under tension thereto. The elastic member of the gasketing cuff contracts and the gasketing cuff comes in leak-barrier contact with a wearer""s thigh as the diaper is put on a wearer""s body. At the same time, the elastic member of the barrier cuff tracts to raise the barrier cuff on the top surface of the topsheet and to form a channel opening inwardly of the diaper. Liquid excretion such as urine or loose passage is reliably obstructed by the barrier cuff raised in this manner and it is not apprehended that such excretion might leak from the diaper.
To form the barrier normally biased to rise on the top surface of the topsheet, it is necessary for the diaper of well known art to use the belt-like sheet sufficiently long to extend across a crotch region of the diaper into front and rear waist regions of the diaper. As a result, the top surface of the topsheet may become irregular and/or stiff and affect a feeling to wear the diaper. In addition, the requirement that the belt-like sheet extending longitudinally of the diaper across the crotch region into the front and rear waist regions should be used in order to form the barrier having a desired leak-barrier function conflicts with the intention to reduce the cost for manufacturing the diaper by minimizing stock material use to make the diaper.
It is an object of this invention to provide a disposable sanitary garment having a pair of barriers adapted to rise on a crotch region of the garment as the latter is put on a wearer""s body and to fulfill a leak-barrier function without deterioration of a feeling to wear the garment and rise of material cost.
According to this invention, there is provided a disposable sanitary garment having inner and outer surfaces, comprising: a chassis which defines the outer surface of the sanitary garment being provided along transversely opposite side edge portions which circumferentially extend around the wearer""s thighs with a pair of first leg-hole elastic members which extend along edges of the side edge portions circumferentially around the wearer""s thighs and with a pair of second leg-hole elastic members which extend from the edges of the side edge portions while describing circular arcs being convex inwardly of the crotch region; the chassis being folded back inwardly of the garment along each of the second leg-hole elastic members so as to wrap the second leg-hole elastic members and a portion of the chassis which extends inside the folded zone being folded back again outwardly of the garment.
The disposable sanitary garment according to this invention is applicable also to diapers for baby, diapers for adult, training pants, diaper covers for baby or adult or the like. The term xe2x80x9cdisposablexe2x80x9d used herein means not only that the garment should be thrown away after used once but also that the garment can be reused limited times.
The disposable sanitary garment according to this invention is provided with the substantially rectilinear first leg-hole elastic members and the circular arc describing second leg-hole elastic members to form the pair of barriers normally biased to rise up in the crotch region. Such a unique arrangement is effective to avoid the problem of the conventional barriers that the longitudinal front and rear ends of the garment might create a feeling of discomfort against the wearer and/or the material cost might be unacceptably increased.